Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Your Digital Camera Is Obsolete: Japanese Image Sensor 100x More Sensitive Than Current Chips [Digital Cameras]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/273163383/your-digital-camera-is-obsolete-japanese-image-sensor-100x-more-sensitive-than-current-chips

Right now, your camera either has a CCD (most point and shoots) or a CMOS image sensor (lots of DSLRs) inside, which converts pretty pictures into an electrical signal. Japan's Research Center for Photovoltaics has developed a CIGS image sensor that's 100 times more light-sensitive than the silicon chip inside your cam. It's able to shoot in environments as dark as 0.001 lux, or about as dark as a "moonless clear night." Obviously, it'll be great for night vision gear, but it also picks up infrared, giving this some serious Sam Fisher applications. Check out the comparison shot between a CMOS and CIGS below, it's insane. Chen won't need that invisible coat, just a good zoom lens.

[Tech On]

DSLR Battlemodo Follow-Up [Digital Cameras]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/273179991/dslr-battlemodo-follow+up

By now you've probably seen our Battlemodo between the four hottest entry-level DSLRs on the market—the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi, the Sony Alpha a350, the Nikon D60 and the Olympus E-420. With 91 good-sized comments (and counting), there were obviously some issues raised that merited further investigation. Here are some new details, discussed by camera model.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi - I originally wrote: "Live View is limited, or you might even say crippled. You can't preview autofocus—I'm not even sure the autofocus works very well in this mode." When you activate Live View, you have to enter the custom settings and enable one of two kinds of autofocus, which you then manually trigger with the press of a button. The Live View isn't so much crippled as it is overly complicated, compared to the sexier iterations in the Sony and Olympus.

Sony Alpha a350 - I noted a sluggishness with photo reviewing: once you take a shot, there's an annoying pause. The question was raised whether or not this was due to Sony's D-Range Optimizer, which "delivers suitable tonality and exposures with rich shadow and highlight detail, even under high contrast situations." While the D-RO and D-RO+ modes can add even more time to the turnaround on the a350, taking pics without D-RO still means a turnaround time about twice as long as Canon's.

Nikon D60 - I complained about something I called the "auto-focus lamp" but which Nikon refers to as AF -assist. You can in fact turn it off, but it's not exactly easy. First, you have to go to the Setup menu to enable the "full" Custom Settings Menu, or the option doesn't appear. And then you have to go into the Custom Settings Menu, locate the AF-assist option and turn it off—provided you know that the bright annoying light is even called by that somewhat indirect name. My feeling is that this option should be off as a default, like on some competing DSLRs.

Olympus E-420 - I have said repeatedly that this camera has trouble with autofocus: when shooting with the kit lens, it resets almost every time you point it at an object, even if it's the same object you were focused on a second before. Olympus suggested I update the lens firmware to see if it improved anything. While there was a patch that I successfully installed, the lens' AF behavior is unchanged.

As you can see, when all new information is factored in, my initial ranking still stays the same. It seems you get what you pay for, though it bears repeating that the real dark horse is Sony's a300, a $700 (with lens) 10-megapixel version of the a350.

One final note: Whenever I bring up DSLRs, the debate about automatic shooting modes rages with some vehemence. I love the discussion, but I want to stress two things: Cameras intended for newbies need really good auto modes, and even the $900 kits I write about are targeted at the noob crowd. Don't believe me? Chuck Westfall, head of media and customer relations for Canon USA, told me this the other day: "The Rebel demographic is skewed towards beginners," adding, "We've found that any kind of automation we can give them is a good thing."

Thanks for the lively debate, and by all means keep it rockin'. As always, I am blown away by the depth of knowledge coming from Giz commenters on this popular but often confusing subject. [Entry-Level DSLR Battlemodo]

Sungevity Web App Makes Installing Solar Panels a Piece of Cake [Solar]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/273725344/sungevity-web-app-makes-installing-solar-panels-a-piece-of-cake

Eco start-up company Sungevity is launching a new web application on Earth Day (three days away, people!) that will take the guess work out of solar panel installations. Enter your address on Sungevity's website and satellite-imaging software will zoom in on your home, calculate your roof's dimensions, select the right sized solar arrays and calculate how much money you'll save on energy costs.

Once you place an order, the site will ship one of five off-the-shelf prepackaged solar arrays and dispatch an installation crew to your door. An on-line database tracks local building and permit requirements and sends the necessary forms to you for you to fill out.

This is great news for everyone who has ever wanted to jump on the solar bandwagon, but was afraid to because of the headaches that come from any large home project. The system will also help make everything cheaper, since half of a solar system's costs are from installation hassles.

Unfortunately, the service is limited to California addresses right now, but if business is good, we could probably count on a nationwide roll-out in the near future. [Green Wombat via Wired]

Preliminary benchmarks have VIA's Isaiah besting Intel's Atom

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/273068427/

Filed under: Laptops

You knew this day would come: Intel positioned Atom perfectly to compete with VIA's low-power offerings, and VIA is trying to stay one step ahead in the low power game with its Isaiah processor. Who will be the winner? Well, we'd say it's still a little early to call it, but German site Eee PC News did some quick and dirty benchmarks that show Isaiah on top by a decent margin. At this point the numbers are just in "ALU" and "FPU," but hopefully some real world benchmarks from some retail products can clear this up before long.

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Intel's Skulltrail QX9775 hits 6GHz, manages not to spontaneously combust

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/273114410/

Filed under: Desktops

Yeah, we've seen other mad scientists take way more antiquated chips to higher figures on the GHz scale, but can that cryogenically cooled P4 handle all those SSE4.1 instructions? The latest feat of overclocking prowess comes to us courtesy of K|ngp|n, who has apparently taken Skulltrail beyond the 6GHz mark. You'll also notice the 1,716MHz FSB (!!!) and the fact that it's sizzling along at 1.953-volts -- but hey, no one said running Crysis would be easy, right?

[Via The Inquirer]

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AMD's Shanghai proffers 12 cores, HyperTransport 3.0

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/273158964/

Filed under: Desktops

If your interest in processor speeds doesn't extend much beyond "is it fast?" then these juicy tidbits likely aren't for you. That said, AMD is certainly getting excited about its upcoming Barcelona successor: the 45nm Shanghai. The main points of interest out of the gate are HyperTransport 3.0, which was nixed late in the game on Barcelona, and six cores, which are meant to pit the chip up against Intel's upcoming six-core Dunnington chip. Where things get really exciting is a few months after Shanghai's late 2008 debut, when AMD plans do release a twin-die version, with 12 cores of happiness connected by HyperTransport 3.0. What does all that mean? Beats us, but we hope it's fast.

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BenQ's Atom-based MID gets detailed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/273173630/

Filed under: Handhelds

BenQ has been showing off its first stab at an MID since the Intel Developer Forum last fall, but it hasn't exactly been all that forthcoming about the full specs of the device. That situation seems to have changed at the more recent IDF in Shanghai, however, although those details seem to just now be making their way across the Internet. As we knew before, the device will pack an Intel Atom processor (the base 800MHz model), which will apparently be backed up by 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD hard drive, and HSPDA support in addition to some integrated WiFi and Bluetooth. The device will also apparently pack a so-called "G-Senser" for "direct touch and free movement to surf on internet," along with voice activation, and optional GPS. Still no word on the all important pricing or release details, unfortunately, although we hope BenQ will save itself some embarrassment but getting the thing out the door before the next Intel Developer Forum.

[Via Slash Gear]

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Bypass YouTube Restrictions with a URL Hack [Video]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/272852663/bypass-youtube-restrictions-with-a-url-hack

Find yourself on the wrong side of the ocean (or border) from a U.S.-only YouTube video? Don't want to log in to glimpse a clip that might have content that's "inappropriate for some users"? Both are fairly easy to get around by slightly altering the video's URL, according to the Google Operating System Blog. Most YouTube URLs take the form of: