Unless you’ve been living in Xanadu, you know that there has been an interesting convergence happening in the camcorder world.  Flip HD camcorders brought a new level of minimalism and ease with their cameras.  However, that convenience came at the price of optical zoom and image stabilization.  Now, Sanyo rides in on its white horse waving the Xacti VPC-PD2BK as the cure for your ills.  But is it?

Well, I would say yes and no.  The Sanyo Xacti VPC-PD2BK does indeed bring some new things to the table.  I like the stereo mics that it comes with.  I also like the fact that it can take 10 megapixel stills that are decent.  The optical zoom really allows for this.  It does come with image stabilization.  That should quiet the agonizing screams of Flip HD youtubers everywhere.  The image quality isn’t the best of the compacts, but it’s good.  And for $169, it really will get Flip pumping out new products.  Competition is good.  Video and specs to follow:

• Full-HD 1080, 30p Video (1920×1080)
• 10 Megapixel Digital Photos
• Works with iMovie Compatible
• Embedded Software for Sharing Videos/Photos
• 2” TFT LCD Monitor for HD Playback
• 3x Optical Zoom Photo
• Wide Angle Lens Range Video: 36mm – 108mm
• Wide Angle Lens Range Photos: 37mm – 111mm
• High Speed Sequential Shooting Mode
• Digital Image Stabilizer (Photos and Video)
• MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Compression Technology
• 48KHz, 16 bit, AAC Stereo Sound Recording
• Built-In Stereo Microphone with Built-In Speaker
• Mini HDMI Digital Interface
• Built-In Direct USB Connector
• USB Extension Cable included
• SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Compatible

Last time I checked, digital cameras were ridiculous.  Yep, they still are.  I mean seriously, even the compacts, like the upcoming Canon Powershot S95 give you so much for the money it makes me want to cry.  Waaaah.

This little beauty sports a 10.4 megapixel sensor with 3.8 optical and 4x digital zoom.  It also comes with most other things you have come to expect, but also includes some other nice features.  One is the f/2.0 wide-angle lens.  The other is 720p video with stereo sound and HDMI output.  Here’s a funny video that highlights another one of the S95′s good qualities: low light photo quality:

Here are the specs:

Focal Length
6.0 (W)-22.5mm (T) f/2.0-4.9 (35mm equivalent: 28-105mm)

Digital Zoom
4x

Focusing Range
Auto: 2.0 in./5cm – infinity (W), 12 in./30cm-infinity (T);
Normal: 2.0 in./5cm – infinity, 12 in /30cm. – infinity (T);
Macro: 2.0 in. – 1.6 ft./5 – 50cm (W) 12 in. – 1.6 ft./ 30 – 50cm (T) ;
Manual Focus: 2.0 in. – infinity/5cm – infinity (W), 1.6 ft. – infinity/50cm – infinity (T)

Optical Viewfinder
N/A

LCD Monitor
3.0-inch TFT color with wide viewing angle

LCD Pixels
Approx. 461,000 pixels

LCD Coverage
100%

Sensitivity
Auto, ISO 80/100/125/160/200/250/320/400/500/640/800/1000/1250/1600/2000/2500/3200 equivalent in P Mode

Light Metering Method
Evaluative*, Center-weighted average, Spot**
* Facial brightness is also evaluated in Face Detect AiAF
** Metering frame is fixed to the center/linked to AF frame

Exposure Control Method
Program AE, i-Contrast, Manual; AE Lock, Program Shift, Safety Shift, Auto ISO Shift

Exposure Compensation
+/-2 stops in 1/3-stop increments

Shooting Modes
Auto, P, Av, Tv, M, C, Low Light, Special Scene (Portrait, Landscape, Kids&Pets, Smart Shutter*, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap, High Dynamic Range, Nostalgic, Fish-eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Beach, Underwater, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist), Movie (Standard, Miniature Effect, Color Accent, Color Swap).
* Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Self-timer

Photo Effects
My Colors
My Colors Off, Vivid, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Custom

Self Timer
Custom*
* Delay time (0 – 15 sec. (in one-second increments), 20/25/30 sec.) and number of shots
(1 – 10 shots (in one-shot increments)) can be specified.

Wireless Control
Not available

Continuous Shooting
Normal: Approx. 1.9 shots/sec. (when shooting in P mode), Approx. 3.9 shots/sec. (when shooting in Low Light mode);
AF: Approx. 0.7 shots/sec. (when shooting in P mode), Approx. 1.0 shots/sec. (when shooting in Low Light mode);
LV: Approx. 0.8 shots/sec. (when shooting in P mode), Approx. 1.1 shots/sec. (when shooting in Low Light mode)

Software is constantly pushing hardware to its limits.  Well, unless you are like most office users who utilize a quad core to do word processing and email.  But I digress.  Anyway, ProcessTamer is a great little program that keeps programs in check by lowering their priority if they start hogging all your resources.

It’s a tiny program that runs in the background and monitors, as this video shows:

Kegbot says that it is a beer tap monitoring and analysis program.  It also says that with it, you can:

• instantly know much beer is left in the keg,
• share beer with multiple people and track each user’s share,
• limit access to kegs and beverage depending on the user, time of day, or other factors,
• and much more!

Yeah, so now for the reality.  If you are *nix competent, then the software installation is really easy.  And then there is the hardware.  You will have to add some parts and do some soldering to an Arduino board.  The result is can be something like this:

The lenses on most cell phones are dreadfully inadequate.  Of course, there are others solutions out there, but Photojojo (besides having a funny name) have a nice setup going.

Okay, let’s cut straight to the chase.  You can buy Photojojo’s two lens bundle for $40.  That includes the fisheye lens and the wide angle/macro lens.  Or, you can buy the wide/macro for $20 and the fisheye for $25.  Okay, so the lenses are magnetic and easily and snugly fit to your phone of choice.  Throw them on a necklace and you’re ready to roll.  Samples, pls:

Can-Am touts the stuff with their new UTV Commander 1000x.  Yeah, it retails for around $14.5k, but it really does deliver the goods, starting with a 976cc, V-twin, liquid-cooled, SOHC, 8-valve (4-valve/cyl) engine.

Here’s a video and specs:

Engine

Type

976cc, V-twin, liquid-cooled, SOHC, 8-valve (4-valve/cyl)

Bore & Stroke

91 x 75 mm

Fuel System

iTC™ with EFI and 54mm Throttle Body, 2 Siemens VDO injectors

Starting System

Electric

Transmission

CVT, sub-transmission with high, low, park, neutral & reverse. Standard engine braking
Motion Control shocks

Drive Train

Selectable 2WD/4WD shaft driven with Visco-Lok† front differential

Cage type

2-inch diameter, high-strength steel, ROPS-approved

Chassis

Frame

Steel

Steering wheel adjustment

Adjustable tilt steering

Front Suspension Type/Shocks

Double A-arm with dive-control geometry / Motion Control shocks

Front Suspension Travel

10 in (254 mm)

Rear Suspension Type/Shocks

Torsional Trailing arm Independent (TTI) with external sway bar/

Rear Suspension Travel

10 in (254 mm)

Front Brake

Dual 214 mm ventilated disc brakes with hydraulic twin-piston calipers

Rear Brake

Single 214 mm ventilated disc brake with hydraulic twin-piston caliper

Tires/Front

Carlisle Black Rock
27 x 9 x 12 in
686 x 229 x 305 mm

Tires/Rear

Carlisle Black Rock
27 x 9 x 12 in
686 x 229 x 305 mm

Wheels

Steel

Dimensions

L x W x H (in)

118.3 x 58.6 x 72 in

L x W x H (mm)

3,004 x 1,489 x 1,829 mm

Wheelbase

75.8 in (1,925 mm)

Ground Clearance

11 in (279 mm)

Dry Weight

1,295 lbs (587 kg)

Towing Capacity

1,500 lbs (680 kg)

Cargo Box Capacity

Total: 600 lbs (272 kg)
Upper: 400 lbs (181 kg)
Lower: 200 lbs (91 kg)

Cockpit Storage

Glove box: 4.5 gal (17.2L)
Under driver seat: 3.5 gal (13.1L)

Fuel Capacity

10 US gal (37.8L)

Features

Instrumentation

Multi-function gauge: Speedometer, tachometer, odometer, trip and hour meters, fuel, gear position, sport mode, seat belt and 4×4 indicator, diagnostics, clock, auto shut off

Anti-Theft

D.E.S.S. (Digital Encoded Security System)

Electrical

Prewired for winch

Lighting

4 60-watt projectors with tail lights/brake light

DC Outlet

Lighter type in console, standard connector in the back (15A)

Color(s) available

Black

MSRP

$14,699 US

Warranty

Basic

6 months limited factory warranty

Extended

B.E.S.T. available from 6 to 18 months

Well, I have previously posted on the virtual laser keyboard.  Now Light Blue Optics one ups it with a device that can do multiple things via projection – that is touch sensitive!

The Light Touch is a multi touch gesture projector that utilizes IR for the sensing.  It uses laser projection in WVGA format.  It runs Windows CE and flash lite, so it will be able to do quite a bit.  The video below shows a short demo from CES:

Cost?  No idea.

I have to admit that I got kind of sick of watching videos of touch displays.  But MIT’s Beyond idea is very, very slick.

]]> http://gopaultech.com/blog/2010/07/mits-beyond-3d-tangible-media/ Here we go again.  Someone has found a nasty way to exploit your Windows machine.  The vulnerability is currently being exploited by W32.Temphid malware.  The issue seems to be in the way that windows parses .lnk shortcut files.  Here is M$’s take on it:

“The vulnerability exists because Windows incorrectly parses shortcuts in such a way that malicious code may be executed when the user clicks the displayed icon of a specially crafted shortcut. This vulnerability is most likely to be exploited through removable drives. For systems that have AutoPlay disabled, customers would need to manually browse to the root folder of the removable disk in order for the vulnerability to be exploited. For Windows 7 systems, AutoPlay functionality for removable disks is automatically disabled.”

There is no current patch.

You can, however, disable displaying icons for link files, and kill this potential exploit.  via US-Cert:

Note Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. For information about how to edit the registry, view the “Changing Keys And Values” Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or view the “Add and Delete Information in the Registry” and “Edit Registry Data” Help topics in Regedt32.exe.

1. Click Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK
2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile\shellex\IconHandler
3. Click the File menu and select Export
4. In the Export Registry File dialog box, enter LNK_Icon_Backup.reg and click Save
Note This will create a backup of this registry key in the My Documents folder by default
5. Select the value (Default) on the right hand window in the Registy Editor. Press Enter to edit the value of the key. Remove the value, so that the value is blank, and press Enter.
6. Restart explorer.exe or restart the computer.