Author: Jesus Diaz

Maybe the Sigma SD15—which we saw last year at PMA2009—will be released one of these days, after being announced in 2006. This time, at least, they have complete technical details, like its 21 image RAW burst 3fps mode:

They also claim a lifetime of 100,000 shutter clicks, which is comparable to high-end Nikons and Canons. The 3fps continuous RAW shooting speed is not that impressive, however. You can check out the details in their press release, but you will notice that something is missing: No price and release yet, once again.

X3 Full-color image sensor
The Foveon X3® direct image sensor featured in the Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera captures all primary RGB colors at each and every pixel location, ensuring the capture of full and complete color. Using three silicon-embedded layers of photo detectors, stacked vertically to take advantage of silicon’s ability to absorb red, green and blue light at different respective depths, it efficiently reproduces color more accurately, and offers sharper resolution, pixel for pixel, than any conventional image sensor. Since color moiré is not generated, the use of a low-pass filter is not needed because full information of light and color can be captured with a three-dimensional feeling.

TRUE II image processing engine
The SD15 incorporates the “TRUE (Three-layer Responsive Ultimate Engine) II” image processing engine which improves the processing speed and overall image quality. The unique image-processing algorithm provides high resolution power and reproduces high definition images with richly graduated tones.

SD card
The SD15 adopts the SD card (compatible with SDHC) which is also used with the DP series of Sigma cameras, improving convenience to users of both camera systems.

21 frames can be captured continuously in RAW mode
The SD15 is equipped with DDR II buffer memory which is twice as large in capacity as the SD14’s buffer. The camera’s high-speed image processing circuits are capable of handling the large data files generated by the high-resolution 14 megapixel sensor. The SD15 features a continuous shooting speed of 3 frames per second with up to 21 RAW Images that can be captured in continuous shooting mode.

AFE（Analog Front End）
AFE (Analog Front End) converts the color data, which full-color capture systems record, to a digital signal. This enables the camera to reproduce high definition and richly colored images.

77-Segment AE Sensor
The SD15 features a new 77-segment AE sensor which allows advanced AE algorithms, improving exposure accuracy. Exact control and collaboration with the AF point ensures the camera exposes accurately even in difficult lighting conditions.

Large, highly visible 3.0″ TFT color LCD Monitor
The SD15 camera features a 3.0 inch TFT color LCD monitor. This 460,000 pixel resolution LCD monitor benefits from a wide viewing angle, making it easy to check focusing and composition. It is possible to review the captured images with a Contact-Sheet View (nine thumbnail images), Single-Image View or Zoomed-In View (it is possible to select the magnified area by using the 4-way controller). While reviewing images, it is possible to display the detailed shooting information such as shutter speed and F-value by pressing the INFO button.

New, intuitive user interface
The improved user interface provides faster and more convenient operation of the camera. The Quick Set button activates the display of the most commonly used camera functions such as Color Mode, White Balance, Image Quality and Image Size on one screen. The 4-Way Controller ensures faster operation of these features. The FUNC button enables functions such as Flash Mode and Synchro Mode.

RAW format recording
The SD15 includes a RAW recording mode for retaining full image capture detail of the utmost quality plus a JPEG recording format for convenience. The RAW data format uses lossless compression for more compact, yet uncompromised, data files. The RAW data format of the SD15 keeps brightness and color data in a 1:1 ratio without relying on interpolation. Each pixel location captures the full color RGB data which, when processed in SIGMA Photo Pro, will preserve the balance of the natural data for the best photos with the best image quality.

SIGMA Photo Pro 4.0 (supplied)
The supplied image processing software of “Sigma Photo Pro 4.0” converts RAW data quickly and easily. Incorporation of a new noise reduction algorithm reduces Chroma and Luminance noise when processing X3F files taken at ISO400 or more. It is possible to adjust the level of reduction for noise just by moving the slider in the control pallet.
This software is compatible with multi core CPU’s, ensuring high speed image processing. It also incorporates functions such as Loupe, slideshow, Printing, JPEG conversion and batch white balance settings.

Reliable and durable shutter with life cycle of over 100,000 exposures
The durable focal plane shutter mechanism has a life cycle of over 100,000 exposures and dramatically reduces the amount of dust and dirt from the shutter mechanism.
The photographer can enjoy taking pictures without worrying about dust and dirt adhering to the image sensor either from inside or outside the camera.

Dust Protector
Most digital SLR cameras are vulnerable to dust entering the body. If the dust and dirt adhere to the image sensor, it may appear in the pictures. The mount of the SD 15 is equipped with a dust protector and the sealing parts are incorporated around the mount, preventing dust from entering the body. Even if dust adheres to the image sensor, the dust protector can be removed easily for sensor cleaning.

Bright viewfinder image by the incorporation of a pentaprism
The SD15 features a pentaprism viewfinder with 98% (vertical and horizontal) coverage, 0.9x magnification and an 18mm eye point. A diopter adjustment is also equipped which can be adjusted from -3 to +1.5 dpt.

ISO50 available
It is possible to select ISO sensitivity value from 100 to 1600. When the camera is in the extended mode, ISO 50 and ISO 3200 can be selected.

5-point AF
The auto focus sensor features 5 focusing points (center, left, right, up and down) ensuring consistently fast and precise focusing. The AF metering features a cross type sensor in the center of the screen. Selecting the AF point can be done manually or automatically.

Four metering modes
The SD15 is equipped with four metering modes: 77-segment Evaluative Metering, Center Weighted Average Metering, Center Area Metering and Spot Metering.

When it is difficult to determine the exposure setting due to variable light conditions, the Auto Bracketing function enables the photographer to take a sequence of pictures of the same subject at three or five different exposure levels. The shift value can be set in 1/3EV increments up to ±3EV(3 stops)/±1.7EV(5 stops).

Improved Auto Bracketing function
In addition to the usual three frame bracketing, five frame bracketing has now been added to the Auto Bracketing function. It allows users to get a more detailed and accurate exposure.

Two motor systems for the prevention of camera shake
Two motor systems are driven by the mirror-drive and shutter charge which lowers the vibration of the mirror movement, preventing camera shake.

Mirror lock-up mechanism prevents camera shake
The mirror lock-up mechanism raises the mirror, preventing vibration when the shutter is released. This prevents camera shake and is especially effective for macro photography or when using extremely long telephoto lenses. Use of the dedicated Remote Controller RS-31 (optional) also reduces the possibility of camera shake.

Built-in flash with 17mm angle of coverage
The Sigma SD15 camera’s built-in flash offers an angle of coverage of 17mm (equivalent to 28mm with a 35mm camera) lens with a guide number of 11. The Built-in flash can be synchronized to a shutter speed up to 1/180 sec. Incorporation of S-TTL automatic exposure ensures the control of advanced flash photography.

Backlight top LCD panel
The top LCD panel allows the photographer to quickly check camera information such as resolution setting, metering mode, battery status and the number of images that can be recorded on the SD card. It also incorporates an orange backlight, which enables the camera to be easily controlled in low light conditions.

Dedicated rechargeable battery with a large capacity
The dedicated BP-21 Lithium-ion battery is supplied as standard with the SD15. It is possible to shoot approximately 500 images on one full charge. The battery takes about 120 minutes to fully charge with the supplied BC-21 Battery Charger. The optional AC Adapter SAC-4 enables the Sigma SD15 to obtain power from the main supply.

Optional accessories
The SD15 can be used with over 45 Sigma lenses such as ultra-wide, ultra-telephoto, macro and fisheye. In addition, other accessories include dedicated flashguns (EF-530 DG SUPER, EF-530 DG ST and EM-140 DG) which offer fully automatic S-TTL flash dedication, a Power Grip (PG-21), Cable Release (CR-21) and Remote Controller (RS-31).

These many optional accessories are available for the SD15 to complement the user’s style of photography. They ensure ease of use and comfortable shooting.

[Sigma via Dpreview]

Some people may ask why a physics professor used liquid nitrogen to freeze and shatter a laptop against the floor, just to tell students that laptops were prohibited in class. Personally, I think that’s cool, but I have another question:

What is Dr. Egon Spengler doing working as a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma?

I know it’s dangerous and even smelly, but when I see these images of astronauts smiling and singing by the new ISS window, I can’t stop daydreaming about going up there one day.

He’s probably singing Bob Dylan. I will sing Bowie. [Twitpic ]

That’s what Alan Kay said when Steve Jobs asked him about his thoughts on the iPhone. Knowing who Alan Kay is, you better listen up. Updated

Alan Kay is one the greatest minds in the history of computing. He worked in the 70s at the legendary Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he said that “the best way to predict the future is to invent it!” He did precisely that. This is what he wrote in a 1971 memo:

In the 1990s there will be millions of personal computers. They will be the size of notebooks today, have high-resolution flat-screen reflexive displays, weigh less than ten pounds, have ten to twenty times the computing and storage capacity of an Alto. Let’s call them Dynabooks.

He was right. His Dynabook design was the first laptop and tablet concept ever. And his idea of always-connected mobile computing is exactly what we have today. Not only he came up with these ideas out of nowhere, but he was also responsible for the overlapping windowing graphical user interface of the Alto. That GUI was the base for the Macintosh, and all the computer user interfaces we use today—except for our iPhones and Androids. Or the iPad, when it comes out.

Lately, however, Kay doesn’t seem to love the windowing GUI concept as much as he did back in the 80s, when the Macintosh came out. This is what he said to Om Malik in a recent interview, before the iPad was introduced:

When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.

I didn’t see the quote back then, but his judgement seems to me spot on. The quote was in a presentation by Evan Doll, from his class at Stanford about designing user interfaces for the iPad. In that slide, Doll quotes Kay, listing then why the iPad’s user interface will change computing as we know it (something that I also said before it came out. Obviously the magic rainbow pills are working).

It’s an interesting slideshow, even without his oral explanations, which covers how the “gulf of knowledge” is making many so-called experts ignore the extreme complexity of computers today, and also ignore why the iPad is the computing device for 95% of the population. Doll makes a great case for this, pointing out the uses of the iPad, and where it would fit in our daily lives—including the inevitable toilet factor:

Beyond Doll’s rationale, however, I find particularly interesting that Kay—the guy who invented mobile computing and the windowing interface—is now behind the idea of a modal, always-connected tablet. Hopefully, he will be right as he was with the Dynabook.

Update: You can watch Doll’s presentation through iTunes. [Gigaom via Slideshare – Thanks Kimmo de Gooijer!]

We have been seeing concepts similar to this Peugeot bubble electric car for years now, but they never seem to materialize. Why? Aren’t people interested in getting to deserted beaches to walk barefoot, alone, lost in a nostalgic mood?

Apparently not. [Coroflot via Likecool]

NASA has released their first iPhone game. It’s called the NASA Lunar Electric Rover Simulator and, instead of making me happierer than a kid in a candy store wearing a Batman cape, reading the description makes me sad:

Welcome to the NASA Lunar Electric Rover (LER) Simulator. You don’t need a driver’s license, but you still need to buckle up as the LER Simulator gives you a glimpse of what it might be like to support the activities of a functioning Lunar Outpost. Get busy. You never know if your skills here will become a major part of the NASA Astronaut application process in the future.

Sadly, and since there are not going to be any NASA mission to the moon, we know that these skills would be useless. Unless that, by “NASA Lunar Electric Rover Simulator” they really mean “Soyuz Spacecraft Push Some Russian Buttons Simulator.”

In any case, go to the App Store and enjoy the free game, because the real thing is not going to happen. [iTunes via Krapps]

Twenty years ago today, Adobe Photoshop 1.0 was released. And it changed the world as we saw it. Because it literally edited our vision.

Click on the image to see the high definition timeline

Photoshop is the invisible hand that touches everything around us. From advertising and commercials to the front page of magazines and political propaganda; going through motion pictures and art, Photoshop is everywhere, pushing the limits of reality, and morphing the world around us to fit what companies want us to believe, buy, and enjoy.

Back in 1987, when Tom and John Knoll created it, nothing could have predicted the deep impact this tool would have in our lives. At that time, there was photo manipulation, but it was reserved to a knowledgeable few, using airbrushes—which required a lot of expertise—and the first Quantel paint boxes—which required lots of money and training.

Photoshop—running on the first color Macs, accelerated by graphic cards by Radius and RasterOps—democratized all this. Image editing became accepted as a tool, and as the power of the machines increased, everything started to become possible for everyone. Like the first industrial oil paintings democratized art in the 19th century—with Cezanne, Monet, Gauguin, and VanGogh quickly taking advantage of the new cheap medium—Photoshop became the new inexpensive way to create new realities and alter the world surrounding us.

When Photoshop 3.0 introduced layers, things got even more dramatic. Together with tools like clone stamping and warping, Adobe’s image studio became the beautiful monster that it is today, capable of creating the most stunning works of art, and the most twisted works of marketing.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Photoshop. Here’s a toast for the next 20 wonderful and terrifying years.

Dr. Christopher W. McGinley, Superintendent of the Lower Merion School District—the district accused of invading students’ privacy by accessing their laptop’s webcams remotely—has sent an email to parents and guardians explaining why. Kind of:

————— Forwarded message —————
From:
Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:33 PM
Subject: Email from Lower Merion School District

Dear LMSD Parents/Guardians,

Our history has been to go to great lengths to protect the privacy of our students; whether it comes to student health, academic or other records. In fact, many of you may remember the heated debate over whether to have security cameras monitor some of our food vending machines. Privacy is a basic right in our society and a matter we take very seriously. We believe that a good job can always be done better.

Recent publicity regarding the District’s one-to-one high school laptop initiative, and questions about the security of student laptops prompted our administration to revisit security procedures.

Laptops are a frequent target for theft in schools and off school property. District laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. The security feature, which was disabled today, was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student.

Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature was activated by the District’s security and technology departments. The security feature’s capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator’s screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.

As a result of our preliminary review of security procedures today, I directed the following actions:

• Immediate disabling of the security-tracking program.
• A thorough review of the existing policies for student laptop use.
• A review of security procedures to help safeguard the protection of privacy; including a review of the instances in which the security software was activated. We want to ensure that any affected students and families are made aware of the outcome of laptop recovery investigations.
• A review of any other technology areas in which the intersection of privacy and security may come into play.

We are proud of the fact that we are a leader in providing laptops to every high school student as part of our instructional program. But we need to be equally as proud of the safeguards we have in place to protect the privacy of the users, as well as to safeguard district-owned property while being used by students.

We regret if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected]. Additional information has been posted on our website, www.lmsd.org.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Dr. Christopher W. McGinley
Superintendent of Schools
Lower Merion School District

Do Not Reply. This is not a reply e-mail address.

It’s good to see that they have turned the spying software off. It’s not so good—but understandable, given the legal situation—that he’s not recognizing any wrongdoing, and instead trying to dress the whole thing as a “security feature.”

He doesn’t talk about the class-action suit, or the fact that students have been asking about this for as long as a year. Talking to Gizmodo, some Lower Merion High School students claimed that, when asked about the random activation of their MacBook’s webcams, tech support explained that it was all a technical glitch. These two explanations don’t match up. A technical glitch, which admits that it’s happened, but accidentally, and the Superintendent’s “never activated…any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever” contradict each other. Which is it?

It has taken a class-action suit and massive media coverage to actually acknowledge than the technical glitch was actually security software, installed on purpose to “track lost, stolen and missing laptops.” It’s just too bad that, according to the students, they were using that software to randomly spy on them at their own homes. [Gizmodo]

Again? Why Kermit, why? (Note: This is not part of the ChatRoulette Photoshop contest. It’s actual felt frog live porn.) [Thanks David Keyes!]

One of the students involved in the class-action lawsuit against the administrators who used school-provided laptops to spy on them, contacted Gizmodo with details about what was happening.

Frequently, the green lights next to our [Early 2008 MacBook] iSight webcams will turn on. The school district claims that this is just a glitch. We are all doubting this now.

Another student has confirmed this:

I questioned the IT guy about why it was happening he said that it was because people logged out when an application using the camera was on, he also stated that they could in fact go and look through your webcam it would just violate the fifth ammendment and that’s why they didn’t.

Today, their principal went on loudspeaker and said that all this was “not true.”

Remember kids, if the green light goes on in your laptop, someone is watching you somewhere. [Gizmodo]

The Python is a huge snake of explosives, a fire whip half a kilometer long launched from Trojan bulldozer tanks. It opens safe passages for convoys in hostile territory. This video shows it in combat for the first time.

The explosive whip is propelled by rockets from a barrel on board the Trojan. As it flies through the air—you can see this if you watch the video really closely, at the beginning—the hose is fully deployed, landing along the projected convoy path. When it touches the ground, the Python fires up shattering the terrain and destroying any mine or explosive device planted around it. As Staff Sergeant Mark Eastley—from the 30 Armoured Engineer Squadron of the British Royal Engineers—puts it:

It takes your breath away. You feel the vehicle rock, and in awe of what has just happened. You see the flash, hear the bang and then feel the shock wave.

I believe Sergeant Eastley. The weapon itself is not offensive, as it’s just designed to open secure passages for both military and civilian people. It was built by BAES for the British Royal Engineers, and it was fired for the first time in Helmand, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Moshtarak. [Ministry of Defense]

Photo and video: MoD/Crown Copyright</>

Aspiral Clocks don’t use hands or digital displays, just a ball. The clock itself spins, driving the ball through a spiral until—every twelve hours—it disappears in a hole at the center. Confused? Here’s a video:

I like it, but for $545, it will probably only excite fans of Bill Halley. [It’s Nice That]

High School students have sued the Lower Merion School District in Philadelphia for spying on them using their laptops’ built-in cameras. School administrator used software to activate the webcams and record students’ activities at home. Way to go, KGB-wannabe assclowns.

The situation was discovered by the Robbins, when their kid was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home.” How could that be possible? The Vice Principal showed a photo as the evidence. A photo taken with the school-provided laptop webcam.

If the lawsuit accusations are true, I hope they ground these slimy people forever. [Lawsuit via BoingBoing]

If you have downloaded the iPad SDK, you can use it to access the Safari browser. Or you just can watch this video. It’s similar to the iPhone’s, adding the new user interface elements of the iPad. [9-to-5mac]

Perhaps fearing more budget cuts by Obama, NASA has launched their new experimental Moonage Daydream space shuttle by surprise. It will complete a two-week mission inspired by David Bowie‘s Ziggy Stardust period. NASA will also launch a new Mars rover:

Called the Leper Messiah, NASA’s new rover will carry a new instrument to measure sunlight on Mars’ surface, to check if it’s “enough to snow white tan”, the Onion’s Science and Technology reports.

NASA’s Moonage Daydream will study “paranoia, decadence, and the fluidity of sexual identity in a zero-gravity environment.” No word on astroturf smoking effects. I can’t wait for the five-member crew to report their discoveries. Godspeed Maj. Tom Louis, Maj. Tom Greely, Maj. Tom Ohweiler, Maj. Thomas Sinclair, and Maj. Tom Keenan! [The Onion]

That’s what legendary designer Dieter Rams had to say when a journalist suggested that Jonathan Ive was ripping off his designs. I have to agree with—in my opinion—the best industrial designer of the 20th Century, Jobs, and Picasso:

If you happen to be in London, don’t forget to go to the Design Museum and experience Dieter Rams’ original work and his 10 Principles for Good Design first hand. [The Local’s Interview and Design Museum]

Ron and Amy Jo Proctor at Weber State Universe 3D have created a “low cost apparatus for capturing stereoscopic video”. I was sold at apparatus and the total cost: Only $250. Here’s the shopping list.

• 2x Kodak Zx1 Digital Camcorders
• L-Shaped Extruded Aluminum
• 2x 1/4″ Nylon Washers
• 3x 1/4-20 Wingnuts
• 2x 1/4-20 Panhead Machine Screws
• Tripod with Quick Release Shoe

That’s it. Put everything together as shown in their page, and create 3D videos like this:

For the Avatar bit, just apply generous blue powder all over your body. All of it. [Savi]

Here’s the first view from the open Cupola, the huge window installed in Tranquility. And yes, it looks like the view from Darth Vader’s loft in the Death Star, overlooking Tatooine.

Cupola was installed in the new module recently attached to the International Space Station by the Endeavour crew, and has now be opened for the first time. And the view actually is Tatooine: This is the Sahara desert, where Luke’s home planet scenes were filmed.

I love Scenter, a system that allows you to bring back memories using smells, which is a more evocative agent than sight or sound. There are only two problems with this.

First, how the hell could we capture scents from moment in those capsules? Second, that nozzle’s shape disturbs me. [Studio KG]