Mobile Dad

Michael Mace posted an excellent article questioning if Apple is too powerful.  With the recent announcement of the iPod Nano and it’s new camera functionality, many wondered why Apple is doing incremental upgrades vs. revolutionary ones they are known for.  It seems Apple wants a piece of the cheap camcorder market, or the Flip market.  It may be a sign that Apple has achieved it’s goal as the dominate trend setter for the mobile market.  With no real threat to their portable music market and their sheer dominance in the mobile phone app market, they are no longer the beloved underdogs of the tech industry.  Now that they are on top, innovation is becoming stagnant, not an uncommon problem for those who dominate a market.  What makes this terrifying as Michael Mace states is that Apple is not trying to create a new market but trying to take over an established one.  Sounds familiar?  continue reading…

I love how Gizmodo reports tech news.  They add a bit of flare and sharp wit that is refreshing from the usual drab that is found on countless other sites, including mine!  Here is an example of their work:

Huge Hole Found on Earth’s Magnetic Field, Run Around In Panic Now

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The news here is that while scientists thought that the solar breach happened when the Earth’s and the sun magnetic fields were in opposite directions, the data gathered from Themis has found exactly the opposite. In other words: These people don’t have a clue! RUN TO THE SHELTERS NOW! 

We finally made our way to the infamous Hamilton Pool.  I had the opportunity to use the flip and to keep it simple, I only used the tools provided from the camera.  Here is the final product:

Not bad though the music provided was cheesy.  That will have to be fixed on later videos.  Also I need to figure out a way to keep the quality up to 640×480.  Other than that, carrying the little bugger sure beats the beefy digicam.

I know you cannot tell but I do enjoy photography when given the opportunity to pursue my creative interest. Unfortunately there are only so many photos I am allowed to display of my children and family, people who rightfully consume all of my free time for which I am more than willing to give. Though I do not take as many creative shots as I use to, that does not negate the fact that I still follow the industry with the kind of enthusiasm reserved for those 20 years younger than me. Case in point, Kodak just released their new 50 megapixel CCD sensor, the KAF-50100 for consumer application. What makes this astonishing is one of sensor’s first applications in the new Hasselblad H3DII-50. 50 Mpixel refined in one of the best medium-format camera manufacture in the world. The sensor itself is twice the physical size of a full-frame 35-mm sensor like the one found in my Canon 5D. Native resolution should be about 8,176 x 6,132 pixels which was achieved by reducing the size of each pixel from 6.8µMpixel, found on the 39MP sensor, to 6µMpixel for the 50Mpixel beast. Shrinking pixels and packing them closer together typically adds noise and reduce dynamic range but it seems Kodak has tweaked their amplifier design and increased data output from two pipes found in their older 39MP sensor to four pipes now utilized in their new sensor (spec summary gathered from EE Times Asia).

At $39,000, the new Hasselblad is for pros only. When a gadget starts to approach the cost of your primary means of transportation, you realize one thing, you need a more expensive car! Hmm, speaking of cars, I heard Tesla has started full production…

Worst-ahem-BestBuy has started to sell my favorite distro, and what I am using right now, Ubuntu for $20. To be clear, this is the same distro that can be downloaded for free. It is odd to see something like this during this day and age with the wide availability of broadband access. I mean 15 years ago, this would make a lot of sense as dial-ups were too slow to download the distro from the web. Should we scoff at those who spend money on something that is technically and legally free? continue reading…