| Find your Digital Rebel's inner Holga
If you love the look of pictures taken with the Holga —those cheap, plastic cameras made in China—but don't want to deal with the oh-so-last-century idea of film, check out Holgamods' Holga Body Cap. Randy Smith, the man behind Holgamods, has taken the lens off a stock Holga and grafted it onto a Canon body cap that fits all of the Canon D-SLRs, including the Digital Rebel series, the EOS 5D Digital, the new EOS 40D Digital, and even the top-of-the-line EOS-1Ds Mark III (it would probably fit any of the more modern Canon film cameras as well). The result is pure plastic goodness without the darkroom. Like the Lensbaby (another of our favorite toys), the Holga Body Cap isn't an automatic lens. You'll need to shoot in manual mode, and set the shutter speed accordingly, but it's a lot of fun, and you end up those dreamy, variable-focus images that tell everyone you're just a little bit off-kilter.
Where is my sunshine, my only sunshine?
If you suspect you have SAD, visit a mental health professional who specializes in mood or sleep disorders, in part to rule out other problems. And read up on SAD; information can be found on the Web site for The Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (www.sltbr.org). In addition to exercising and getting outdoors, my own treatment for the winter blues involves re-reading "All Summer in a Day," which is so vivid that you can actually feel the sun's warmth on your face and arms. For a cheerier version, watch the film. The kids change their mind and free Margot just before the sun vanishes, so she can see a sliver of sunlight. Bradbury actually liked that ending more than his own, said Sam Weller, a professor at Columbia College Chicago and author of "The Bradbury Chronicles" (William Morrow, $26.95).
CES Thoughts: Microsoft's Future, Intel and AMD, Can HD DVD Recover ...
With Surface, Microsoft is still rolling out its contained offering to food services and healthcare , but it will be partnering to move to the consumer market, which apparently is screaming for this thing. IPTV is the furthest along with major inroads into the U.S. and European markets. This all may be followed by Zune, which seems to have some really good marketing all of a sudden. This provides the promise of a packaged iPod killer with a new solid back end. The Xbox 360 is already expected to move into British Telecom homes as a set-top box, and PC OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are screaming to license. This represents what could be one of the most significant changes the company has ever seen, the products in the CE segment will improve, I just hope the company learns to more effectively use its sense of humor and doesn't lose it.
T-Mobile 2008 Roadmap Calls for 3G, Android
T-Mobile is planning to finally launch their 3G network in the United States some time this summer, finally offering customers a speedier way to get their mobile data. They're a little late to party, seeing how Sprint is already working on some 4G connectivity, but it's good to see T-Mo moving in the right direction. The 3G network for T-Mobile was originally supposed to launch in 2008, but they underwent a series of serious delays that have pushed the deployment to Summer 2008. CEO Hamid Akhavan is confident, though, that the upcoming deployment will bring about a network that is quite "robust". The initial launch will be for major metropolitan areas only, of course, but that's how you build the "best 3G network in the country." In possibly bigger news, T-Mobile also plans on having a Google Android-based handset among their fold by the end of this year.
Eye-Fi Card Gets Smarter, More Efficient
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Eye-Fi (www.eye.fi), makers of the world's first wireless memory card for digital cameras, announced a "Smart Boost" upgrade that will make wireless photo uploads with the Eye-Fi Card more efficient and improve the upload experience. Eye-Fi also announced its first expansion into brick-and-mortar retail with Ritz Camera Centers and its addition of RitzPix as an online printing option for Eye-Fi users. The Smart Boost update will enable the Eye-Fi Card to intelligently determine the most efficient way to send users' photos where they want them. With Smart Boost, when the user's computer is on, the Eye-Fi Card will direct photo transfers through the Wi-Fi network to the computer, allowing the Eye-Fi Manager software to relay the photos to the Web.
|
