Another long break from updating the blog. Yes, I know. I’ve been researching and writing this massive article about 3D at home for Hifimaailma magazine, and it’s finally done, out of the gate. Off you go, version 1.0 of the copy, ready to be savaged and brutally torn apart by the folks who actually put the magazine together. I have a nasty feeling I haven’t seen the last of you yet…
And wouldn’t you just know it: I’ve now been hired to write an article about 3D for another magazine. Luckily for me I need to approach the subject from a slightly different point of view for the 2nd article, so it’s not going to be a simple re-hashing of the first one. Not that I wouldn’t mind that at all; it would save a bit of time. Maybe. Or more likely not.
Anyhoo! I’ve had a whale of a time doing research for the article(s) and I’ve learned a lot of new things. It’s what makes life living for, I’d say. I’m well chuffed about the whole 3D lark, to be honest. Can’t remember the last time something got me quite this excited! You see, I’ve learned not only how to shoot, edit and post 3D, but I’ve had a number of rather intriguing ideas and, dare I say, epiphanies. And I will do my best to share them all with you, once I get my hands on a few missing pieces of information, hardware and software.
So, prepare yourself for a series of long-ish blog posts about what you can achieve with a remarkably small amount of money and carefully scavenged knowledge. Coming soon… ish.
I procrastinated for quite a while before placing an order for the rather spiffing Glidetrack camera dolly system. My heartfelt thanks to Alastair who obviously subscribes to the notion that there are no stupid questions; heaven knows I bombarded him with such several times and he replied to every one without delay.
I hesitated between Glidetrack HD and the more expensive but obviously sturdier XD model. In the end I went for the HD, thanks to Alastair assuring me that it can take the weight of a RED One camera easy.
Once I had placed the order and paid for it, FedEx delivered the parcel in a couple of days. Size of the shipping tube impressed (as you can see in the photo gallery) but so did the ease with which Glidetrack was assembled. A couple of screws to install the feet at both ends of the rail, and it’s ready for mounting on a tripod(s).
I don’t have any demo footage to share yet, but there’s plenty to see on Glidetrack’s website. I took a bunch of photos of the assembly and mounting options; you’ll find them in the photo gallery.
Canal Digital kutsui minut katsomaan Eurosportin 3D-testilähetystä French Open -tennisturnauksesta. Lähetystä demottiin ensin Panasonicin 3D-plasmatelevisiolla, minkä jälkeen siirryimme kerrosta alemmas, jossa odotti Samsungin jo kauppoihin ehtinyt LED LCD 3D-televisio. View full article »
Late last year I decided to migrate some of my PCs to SSD boot drives. One of the drives I bought was by OCZ, an Agility Series 120GB 2.5″ drive. Its performance turned out to be very good and I had zero problems with it — until now.
I had to move the drive into another PC. So, I popped open the PC chassis, took hold of the freely dangling drive with my right hand and proceeded to remove first the power connector, then the SATA cable. I must’ve done this same procedure maybe hundreds of times with SATA drives in the past. At this point I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. It was only when I was trying to re-connect the drive that I noticed something was amiss. View full article »
High Definition images helped researchers gain new insights into how octopuses react to their environment, reports this article from MSNBC.
Pistäydyin tänään Sonyn toimistolla Espoossa tutustumassa Sonyn ensimmäiseen 3D-televisioon. Mallinumerolla KDL-46HX900 varustettu 46-tuumainen HDTV tulee myyntiin kesäkuussa. HX900:stä tulee saataville myös 52-tuumainen versio. Suureksi yllätyksekseni televisiota syötettiin PlayStation 3:lla, eikä Sonyn BD-soittimella. Sonyn edustajan mukaan kyseessä oli viritelty PS3, jossa oli 3D-ominaisuuden mahdollistava uusi ohjelmisto. View full article »
One of the rare niggles I’ve had with the mostly fantastic HTC Hero has been it’s thirst for power. And by power I mean battery power, not influence over nations. A while back I read a tweet about Mugen Power’s new 3200mAh battery for the Hero. Back then I still had some money set aside for impulse purchases so I ordered one. It took almost three weeks to arrive and came with a new battery door, i.e. a replacement plastic rear cover for the phone.
That’s because the new battery is a lot thicker than the original one, and practically doubles Hero’s girth. My previously slim Hero now looks like it’s about to give birth. Oddly enough I found the new fatter Hero feels somewhat more comfortable in hand than the original slim one. It doesn’t feel more comfortable in a trouser pocket, however.
According to the instructions, I was supposed to first charge the battery in the phone for 12 hours… so I did. I know, me following instructions!? It’s a crazy world. Furthermore, the instructions also say that after that first charging I should use the phone until the battery is running very low, then recharge. By repeating this procedure a few times I should have a longer-lasting battery, I suppose. To my surprise, it took the battery almost five days to run down to 15% which is when Hero starts making a fuss about recharging. The phone was on 24 hours a day and saw lots of heavy use, including 12+ hours of talking and plenty of browsing the internet via HSDPA. The original battery wouldn’t have lasted a day in similar conditions. Despite adding weight and volume to the Hero, I have to say I’m very pleased with the new battery and how it has transformed the way I use my Hero.
PlayStation 3:n uusi, aiempaa pienikokoisempi ja vähemmän virtaa kuluttava malli saapuu kauppoihin syyskuun ensimmäisellä viikolla. Sain pelikonsolin näpelöitäväkseni muutamia päiviä aikaisemmin. Tässä alustavia mietteitä parin illan testailun jälkeen. View full article »
Kävin tänään noutamassa postista Elisa Viihde -paketin. Se sisältää 24/1mbps ADSL2-yhteyden, ADSL2-modeemin ja DVB-T/C+IPTV-digiboksin. Minulla oli ennestään Elisan ADSL2-yhteys, joka toimi parhaimmillaan 16 megabitin nopeudella. Kun tilaamani Elisa Viihde -yhteys kytkettiin toimimaan, pimeni modeemi täysin. Elisan tekninen tuki kertoi, että Linksys AM200 kuuluu modeemeihin, jotka eivät toimi Elisan ADSL-yhteyden Viihde-profiilin kanssa (yllätys!). Ratkaisu? Profiilin muutto IPTV:ksi ja yhteysnopeuden pudottaminen 8 megabittiin. (Päivitetty 1.9.09) View full article »
I purchased a Flip Ultra HD recently. First impressions were favourable: it’s extremely easy to use and the image quality beats Creative Vado HD hands down. Initial bliss turned sour rather quickly when I tried to charge the included batterypack. The bastich simply wouldn’t start charging, no matter what piece of equipment I connected it to. Monitor’s USB hub? Nope. Sennheiser Bluetooth hands-free USB charger? Nope. An external HDD enclosure with four powered USB connectors? No chance in hell.
Some googling turned up a string of comments at Hawkee.com. User ‘e-user001′ had received some instructions from Flip about how to solve the issue:
1) remove the battery pack from the camcorder
2) connect the camcorder to a powered USB port on your computer
3) when the “Connected” indicator comes on, insert the battery pack into the camcorder
4) safe eject your camcorder from your computer
5) reconnect your camcorder to your computer
6) the battery pack should now begin to charge within the camcorder
To clarify, at step 4 you’re supposed to physically detach the Ultra HD from your computer, then plug it in again at step 5.
I followed the instructions and Ultra HD is now happily recharging its batterypack from MSI Wind U100 notebook’s USB connector. Regardless, I’d rather see Ultra HD being recharged without a computer, so I asked Flip about its compatibility with all my external USB chargers. I’ll let you know, if they ever reply.
