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Sadly I wasn’t familiar with mathematician and science writer Martin Gardner‘s work. Fortunately, although he passed away this weekend at age 95, he’s left a huge body of work to absorb; this show is a fine place to start. [Vimeo] More »

On June 25, 2010, the shareholders of XTO Energy, Inc. (XTO) will decide at a special shareholders’ meeting whether or not XTO should become a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM).

When Michelle wrote about the deal last December, she noted at the time that XTO’s senior executives had agreed to take consulting agreements rather than the larger sums they could have received under their employment agreements’ change in control (“CIC”) terms.  But it wasn’t until XTO filed its merger proxy last Friday afternoon that we learned just how lucrative those consulting deals will be.

In all, the five NEOs would have received an aggregate $114.35 million more if they had stuck with the CIC provisions in their employment agreements. But the money that they’ll get from the consulting jobs are a lot higher than one might have assumed after reading the 8-K that XTO filed last December. As a group, they’re still getting approximately $190,340,000 in cash and stock if the deal goes through.

The merger proxy also shows that some NEOs are sacrificing a lot more than others. For Bob Simpson, the company’s founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, the difference is relatively small – $1.65 million. Simpson will receive $84.42 million under the consulting agreement instead of the $86.07 million he would have received per his employment agreement. But for the other NEOs, the difference between what they’ll get from the consulting agreements – compared to what they would have received from the employment agreements – is a lot more dramatic:

Executive	Title	Consulting agreement (in Millions)	Employment agreement (in Millions)
Keith Hutton	CEO	$48.09	$99.89
Vaughn Vennerberg II	President	$37.14	$70.71
Louis Baldwin	EVP/CFO	$11.92	$24.13
Timothy Petrus	EVP-Acquisitions	$8.77	$23.89

According to the chart on p. 108 of the merger proxy, the lion’s share of those payments will come from stock grants and retention payments, although the salaries and bonuses also pay very well. The consulting agreements will end on the first anniversary after the merger is completed; however, the parties can renew them for another year by agreement.

The proxy also discloses that director Jack Randall’s employer, Jefferies & Company, Inc., which provided merger-related financial advice to XTO, will get a transaction fee of $24 million if the merger goes through, plus out-of-pocket expenses, legal fees, and indemnification from “certain liabilities.”  According to the filing, Randall participated in the directors’ merger deliberations, but he abstained from voting on the merger “…to avoid any perception of a potential conflict of interest arising out of his employment with Jefferies.”

We’ll see what the shareholders think when they vote next month.  But the company’s top executives certainly have millions of reasons to hope that the merger goes through.

Image source: blmurch via Flickr.

All our friends across the pond, as well as any expatriates living in our neck of the woods have a new application to check out.  Heck, even us yanks could do well with a little English culture added to our lives.  The London Evening Standard and Handmark have joined together and now the popular tabloid style London daily paper can be read right from your Android device.

Hit the break for the full press release, as well as a few screenshots.  Now if you’ll pardon me, it’s time for tea here in Appalachia.

Thanks Dan!

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist.

Now more than a month into the mammoth, out-of-control, no-end-in-sight oil spill at Deepwater Horizon, the unanswered questions, data gaps and withheld information surrounding BP’s use of dispersants are flowing in seemingly as fast as the oil is leaking.

With each passing day, it seems we know less and less about the composition and safety of these dispersants, other available dispersants, and even whether the use of dispersants– especially on this unprecedented scale – is to be advised at all.

It begs the question: Isn’t having ready answers to such questions the reason why the federal government was required to develop a contingency plan in the first place? 

As I noted in an earlier post, BP has to date released more than 700,000 gallons of two dispersants, Corexit® 9527 and Corexit® 9500, that are among the least effective of the 18 dispersants that EPA has approved under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, and they appear to be among the more toxic based on limited short-term toxicity tests conducted on fish and shrimp.

Those data, plus the massive volumes involved and BP’s proposal to inject the dispersants into deep water, led EPA on May 20 to direct BP to identify and start using more effective and less toxic dispersants. BP responded over the weekend, maintaining steadfastly that Corexit® is the best choice given the circumstances.

Several impressions emerge in reading BP’s response. First, the most glaring: Big sections appear to have been redacted as confidential business information. In releasing BP’s response to its directive, EPA stated:

BP and several of the dispersant manufacturers have claimed some sections of BP's response contain confidential business information (CBI). By law, CBI cannot be immediately made public except with the company's permission. EPA challenged these companies to make more information public and, as a result, several portions of the letter can now be made public. EPA is currently evaluating all legal options to ensure that the remaining redacted information is released to the public. EPA continues to strongly urge these companies to voluntarily make this information public so Americans can get a full picture of the potential environmental impact of these alternative dispersants.

Whether or not it is technically legal, BP’s heavy invoking of CBI protection – in light of its dumping of what will soon exceed one million gallons of proprietary formula into the Gulf of Mexico – is deeply troubling.

It’s good to hear EPA is evaluating “all legal options” – one of which under Section 14 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provides that CBI “shall be disclosed if the [EPA] Administrator determines it necessary to protect health or the environment against an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.”

While under this provision, EPA generally must notify a company 15 days in advance of releasing the information, there is an emergency exception: Where “the Administrator determines that the release of such data is necessary to protect against an imminent, unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment,” only 24 hours notice is required.

In this context EPA has some nontrivial burdens to meet: “imminent” and “unreasonable” risk. But if this situation doesn’t meet those tests, what does?

Second, I can’t help but highlighting the pretty remarkable reference by BP to its substantial concern for “the potential long term effect and persistence of the chemicals in each dispersant.” Too bad that concern didn’t lead BP to demand or at least support long-term toxicity testing of Corexit®.

But BP’s concern is strong enough to lead them to point out that one of the other dispersants has a chemical in it (identity withheld) that “may degrade to a nonylphenol.” BP helpfully points out that nonylphenols “have been identified by various government agencies as potential endocrine disruptors.”

This, from a company in an industry that has done its level best to undermine researchers’ and government’s efforts to identify and act to control endocrine disruptors. Has a new leaf turned?

Finally, what is perhaps most remarkable about BP’s response, and more broadly the responses of scientists to the dispersant issue, is how little we know about what’s in these dispersants, what their effects will be on marine environments and on the workers and responders who are exposed to them – and even on the fundamental question of whether they should be being used at all to control a spill of this nature and magnitude. It appears we don’t have answers even to basic questions such as:

• Do the dispersants actually work to reduce the impact of the oil?
• Is it better to disperse the oil or leave it undispersed?
• Is the mixture of oil and dispersant more or less toxic than the oil by itself?

See articles here, here and here for some examples of the questions scientists are raising.

Is it too much to hope, next time around, that we might have a contingency plan in place that has asked and answered such questions before something like this happens again?

Com a assinatura “Chevrolet & Você”, a empresa reforça os valores mais reconhecidos por quem admira e usa a marca, como a segurança, o conforto, a performance, o bem-estar e a qualidade do serviço de atendimento ao cliente. As peças, que são assinadas pela WMcCann, começaram a circular na última quarta-feira (19/05/2010), nos principais canais de TV do país e nas mídias impressas e online.

A nova comunicação da marca é norteada pelo símbolo “&”, que representa os conceitos de união, parceria e comprometimento. “Optamos por destacar nossos valores mais reconhecidos para gerar um sentimento de proximidade com nossos clientes. O objetivo da campanha é reforçar ainda mais o posicionamento da Chevrolet e mostrar que tudo que fazemos é pensando na satisfação de nossos consumidores.

Com a frase “Tudo o que fazemos é com você, por você, para você”, a Chevrolet espera valorizar vários atributos da marca, como a confiança, qualidade e segurança para seus clientes. Para sustentar esse posicionamento, essa ação apresenta o Novo Serviço Chevrolet e o Chevrolet Road Service, serviços exclusivos que possuem o objetivo principal de garantir tranqüilidade e comodidade aos clientes na realização de serviços nas concessionárias ou em caso de alguma necessidade específica relacionada ao carro ou ao cliente, que precise de suporte do serviço de atendimento 24 horas para os carros em garantia como troca de pneu, atendimento com moto ou carro patrulha e consulta de condições das estradas.

A ação

A estratégia de lançamento da nova ação da marca Chevrolet conta com quatro comerciais para TV aberta e a cabo, anúncios de página dupla e tripla nas principais revistas de interesse geral e especializada, além de mídia digital.

As peças publicitárias destacam o compromisso da marca com o cliente. Os filmes e anúncios mostram diversas situações nas quais os proprietários de veículos Chevrolet podem contar com a marca. “Pensamos em um “&” como um símbolo de aproximação entre a Chevrolet e seus clientes. Ele aparece na vida das pessoas sempre de forma inusitada e lúdica: onde eles estiverem, a Chevrolet vai estar presente”, diz Colossi.

Para complementar, a música “Por Você”, de autoria do cantor e compositor Frejat, dá o tom ao filme e reforça tudo o que a Chevrolet faria pelo seu cliente. “A trilha sonora é mais que um pano de fundo, ela traduz um conceito, além de ser impossível não lembrar o refrão “por você” o tempo todo, o que é excelente para a marca”, completa Eric Sulzer, diretor de criação da WMccann.

Fonte: Maxpress

Responding to customer complaints, Pharos has announced the free replacement of faulty Pharos Traveler 137 handsets, currently being sold on Cincinnati’s Bell’s network in USA.

The handsets had been presenting with issues related to a faulty power buttons, which would fail to start after charging overnight, requiring a soft reset to fix, and also with a faulty battery meter, meaning in some handsets the battery meter may read 100% when it is actually empty.

The handsets, which originally shipped with Windows Mobile 6.1, will be swapped out free of charge for Windows Mobile 6.5 versions.

"It’s true that Pharos is a very small player compared to the big names in the smartphone business," a spokesman said, "but maybe the way they treat their customers shows that it can be better to deal with a small outfit that cases."

More at Twice.com

Back at CTIA 2010, Motorola announced the world’s first rugged Android handset with iDEN push-to-talk functionality: the i1. At launch, Motorola was only willing to spill the beans on one carrier who’d be getting the handset: Sprint.

We just unearthed some pretty irrefutable proof that someone else will be getting the i1: Boost Mobile. Yep — say hello to the first pre-paid Android handset in the US.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Yes, supercar manufacturers have recalls too – they just don’t happened to be in the million units recall range. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Lamborghini is recalling 428 units of its 2007-2008 Murcielago LP640 and LP640 roadsters in the United States due to a potential fire hazard caused by a defective fuel tank.

“Stress generated by the back and forth movement of gasoline inside the fuel tank during lateral and longitudinal accelerations, accompanied by vertical vibration, could cause detachment of one or more spot welds holding the fuel pump support inside the fuel tank,” said Lamborghini in documents filed with the NHTSA. “A slow fuel leak could develop at the detached spot weld, which could potentially result in a fire only if an external ignition source is present.”

The supercar maker said that there have been no injuries, fires or accidents related to the recall, which is expected to begin in June. Owners can call Lamborghini at (508) 808-9562.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Inside Line

If you plan on taking your iPad with you to Yankee Stadium, you may wanna think again (or wear a loose-fitting jacket with a large pocket.) Yankee Stadium has a policy where they don’t allow laptop computers inside their gates, and recently they’ve decided that the iPad falls under that same category. Over on the IGN Message Boards, user Spacekatgal tells her tale of being turned away at the gate due to having an iPad with her. She walked away, stuffed it in a jacket pocket, and came back and got through.

Of course, we find it odd that the iPad is being given laptop treatment here, when it is an iPhone OS device. In our opinion, if you can bring in an iPhone or iPod touch into Yankee Stadium (which you can,) then the iPad shouldn’t really be given a hard time. Your thoughts?

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Handycam is a Sony brand used to market its camcorder range, and was launched twenty five years ago in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony’s previous line of Betamax-based models. The name was intended to emphasize the “handy” palm size nature of the camera, made possible by the new miniaturized tape format. This was in marked contrast to the larger, shoulder mounted cameras available before the creation of Video8, and competing smaller formats such as VHS-C.

Sony has continued to produce Handycams in a variety of guises ever since, developing the Video8 format to produce Hi8 (equivalent to S-VHS quality) and later Digital8, using the same basic format to record digital video. The Handycam label continues to be applied as recording formats evolve, into realms such as HD video recording (1080i) and large capacity hard disk drives (240GB) and flash media (64GB) with incredible features.

What is your favorite Handycam model or memory?

Let’s take a look at some notable Sony Handycam Camcorder Features, according to Sony’s Handycam 25th Anniversary Website (entire contents of site are below):

Chapters:

• The Beginning Of Handycam
• 25 Years Of Handycam
• The Small Size Of Handycam
• Handycam Image Stabilization
• Handycam Design
• The Sound Of Handycam
• The Beauty Of Handycam
• Handycam Is Easy To Use

The Beginning Of Handycam

The Handycam begins with the CCD-M8, introduced in 1985.

The Beta video cassette, the predecessor to the 8-millimeter video format, was intended for use in integrated camera/recorder devices right from its inception. In the early 1980’s, when shoulder-supported video cameras weighing more than two kilograms were the norm, the size of the next generation was decided on first with the condition that the camera must be operable with just one hand. Since the 8-millimeter cassette was one quarter the size of the Beta cassette, the camera should be reduced in size by a comparable amount. That line of thought led to a final size that was equivalent to two Beta cassettes.

With this demanding size requirement as a goal, the CCD-M8 became a reality only after much trial-and-error development.

In addition to being the first camcorder to break the one-kilogram weight barrier, the CCD-M8 was also the first to emphasize easy operation. The user had a choice of three focus settings and two white balance settings, and then it was just a matter of pressing the record button to shoot. It was record-only device, and playback was to be handled by a separate playback deck.

The “one-button” concept introduced in the CCD-M8 led the way for the significant advancements in automation technology that followed.

25 Years Of Handycam

The flagship HDR-CX550V model, released in 2010 on the 25th anniversary of the Sony Handycam, inherits outstanding features and performance acquired through two and a half decades of evolution. convenient, practical features such as “active” image stabilization that works effectively even while zooming, an Intelligent Auto mode that automatically determines which of 90 possible scene settings are ideal for the scene you’re shooting, and one of the highest performance lenses available in the field – Sony’s 29.88mm G Lens (35mm equivalent for movie shooting) – deliver not only excellent image quality, but an unprecedented shooting experience in wide angle as well. And users who want maximum creative capability will be delighted by a range of new manual features, including aperture priority and shutter speed priority modes.

Despite the impressive list of features and functions provided by the HDR-CX550, it features a remarkably compact design that is at the same time solid and substantial, befitting its role as the representative of 25 years of Handycam evolution.

The Small Size Of Handycam

It is sometimes necessary to adopt a new system in order to record the best possible image quality. In such cases, the first model is likely to be relatively large and be designed to serve the high-end market. The second model, however, will retain the same features in a significantly smaller, easy-to-use design.

Size comes first. To miniaturize to suit Sony customers’ needs, they design from the outside rather than the inside.

The first Handycam, the CCD-M8, was designed from the outset to be about the size of a Beta videocassette. That size goal was attained, and a weight of only one kilogram was achieved for the first time.

By setting and relentlessly pursuing specific miniaturization goals, impressive size reduction has been achieved in the Handycam line. The CCD-TR55, released in 1989, was widely known as the “passport-size Handycam” based on the concept of travel. It was designed to be small enough to fit in a handbag and be taken anywhere. Here’s a weird advertisement I found for the TR88 from ‘89:

A miniature drum mechanism had already been developed for the preceding product, the CCD-V88, but further miniaturization was necessary using the same basic technology and newly developed miniature lens. One problem was that the CCD-V88 had a number of protrusions that made it seem large, which were eliminated by implementing an internal microphone for the first time ever. The problem of mechanical noise being picked up by the microphone was overcome by applying noise-canceling construction methods.

Miniaturization means higher circuit density, which can lead to heat buildup within the device. These and other problems were effectively overcome, resulting in groundbreaking miniaturization in “passport size” Handycam that successfully popularized the travel-camera concept.

The same approach to miniaturization was applied in the DCR-PC7, the successor to the first DV camcorder, and in the HDR-HC1, the second-generation Hi-Definition camcorder.

Handycam Image Stabilization

Image stabilization has become an indispensable feature in both still and video cameras. The evolution of image stabilization technology in Handycam camcorders goes back 18 years.

Hand shake is a fundamental problem when shooting video, and camera manufacturers have come up with a variety of ways to reduce it.

One method adopted by another manufacturer was electronic compensation based on image recognition. This type of electronic compensation became so popular that image stabilization was expected in all video cameras thereafter. However, it suffered from a few drawbacks, such as not working while zooming, and sometimes misunderstanding subject movement for camera shake.

The first image stabilization system incorporated in a Handycam employed a prism in front of the lens, the angle of which was minutely adjusted to compensate for shake. This was Sony’s optical active prism stabilization system, introduced in the CCD-TR900.

The active prism system was subsequently employed in high-end models as well, but was quite large and not suitable for use in compact models. A new type of electronic image stabilization was there fore adopted in order to maintain the compact dimensions and light weight of the Handycam line.

Electronic compensation was added to the existing specialized gyro sensor that was being employed to directly detect shake, and the resultant system was introduced in the compact CCD-TR2.

Image stabilization was then required for still images captured by compact models as well as moving images. To effectively achieve that requirement, a compact lens with an internal compensation element was devised to allow lens-shift stabilization (DCR-TRV900).

In 2003, the New Torino (Turin) Project was kicked off, with the goal of achieving even greater image stabilization performance before the Torino Olympics.

Research was focused on reducing the size of the active prism system so that it could be implemented in home video camcorders. This resulted in the development of a dedicated microprocessor (BONOBO) and a new precision optical stabilization lens system that were released in the HDR-UX7.

The name of the project was changed, and it became a permanent operation that pursued image stabilization development full time.

A major advancement was achieved in the HDR-XR520/500 with an Active Mode that provided improved stabilization at the wide end of the zoom range, and allowed stable images to be shot while walking with the camera.

Once shooting while walking became possible, the rolling shake caused by body sway while walking became an issue.

A gyro to dedicated to roll detection was added, and roll compensation was achieved by using the BIONZ image processor. This system was released in the HDR-CX520/500.

Handycam Design

Sony product engineering defers to design, and design is never compromised solely to satisfy engineering criteria. Design and ease of use are both refined to the highest possible degree.

The same applies to Handycam design.

Handycam is specifically designed for handheld shooting, but the way that has been implemented has been modified over time with the introduction of new technologies and features.

The compact Handycam made it possible to shoot handheld, in contrast to its bulkier shoulder-supported predecessors. This made it necessary to find the most practical, comfortable position for the viewfinder for that style of shooting. The viewfinder extended from the side, toward the rear of the camera, and is a location that remains standard to this day.

When LCD viewfinders were introduced, it was necessary to modify the way tehy were mounted for optimum viewing. At the time it was normal to hold the camera with both hands while viewing the LCD, but by placing the LCD screen in a flexible flip-out panel it became possible to shoot comfortably with one hand while viewing the screen, significantly enhancing ease of use (CCD-TRV90).

The next goal was to make the camera slim enough to fit in a pocket. This resulted in a thin vertical design in which the lens and flip-out panel do not overlap.

The Sound Of Handycam

One of the major differences between still and moving images is sound. When a video is played back, the sounds of the city or friends talking help bring the original moments back to life. Great care is taken to ensure that Handycam camcorders offer the best possible sound.

The best-selling passport size CCD-TR55 had monaural sound. Stereo sound was a development goal for the second-generation passport size CCD-TR75.

Because of the compact size of the camera, the spacing between the left and right microphones was too close to achieve effective stereo sound. This problem was overcome by using the time difference between the sound arriving at the two microphones and by giving the microphones more directional pickup characteristics.

Another problem that had to be overcome was that nearby sounds would interfere with sound from a distant subject. The solution was to once again use the time difference between the microphones to implement a “zoom microphone” function that was linked to the camera’s zoom lens (CCD-TR900).

When DVD disks were adopted as a recording format, the 5.1 channel sound capabilities of the medium were too appealing to ignore. In order to provide even more realistic, spacious sound to match the video images, more microphones were added and precise computation of the time differences between those microphones made it possible to deliver stunning 5.1-channel surround sound in the DCR-DVD403.

The evolution didn’t stop there. In the HDR-SR12, further refinements in computation capability made it possible to achieve 5.1-channel zoom microphone operation linked to the lens.

The Beauty Of Handycam

A lens that precisely captures the scene. The image sensor – the camera’s electronic “eye” that converts the light captured by the lens to electronic signal. The processing engine that generates the final image from the signal supplied by the image sensor.

Handycam image quality is dependent on these three basic components. Development of CCD image sensors was initiated in 1970, and after overcoming countless problems and obstacles, the cutting-edge CCD sensor was implemented in the very first Handycam, the CCD-M8.

The fact that “CCD” became a part of the product name attests to the important role this advanced component played in establishing the Handycam line.

As semiconductor production technology advanced, CCD sensors gradually became smaller: starting at 2/3 type and progressing to 1/2-type, and then 1/3-type.

The general understanding throughout the industry was that the performance of CCD sensors would inevitably decline as the size was reduced, but Sony firmly believed that performance could be maintained or even improved despite the miniaturization.

That belief came to fruition when the CCD-TR75, implementing a 1/2-type precision CCD in a camcorder the size of the CCD-TR55, proved to be a huge success.

But as further miniaturization of CCD image sensors was pursued, power consumption became a problem to the point that it became necessary to adopt a different structure that had superior power characteristics: the CMOS image sensor.

Dynamic range limitations were overcome, and the CMOS sensor became more widely accepted.

In 2007, Sony developed the original Exmor CMOS sensor which by converting the analog electronic signal to digital format within the sensor chip itself, it achieved significant reductions in both noise and power consumption.

Then came the back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor that achieved twice the sensitivity of conventional miniature sensors, allowing high quality video to be captured even in low light (HDR-XR520/HDR-XR500).

The history of image sensors is also the history of man’s quest to shoot the most beautiful, vibrant images possible.

At the same time, it is generally understood that image quality is largely influenced by the recording format. Image resolution is limited by the format used.

The first Handycam used 8-millimeter videotape. But as CCD performance improved, the limitations of the recording format became a bottleneck. An improvement was achieved by switching from metal tape formulations to vapor-deposition Hi8 tape that offered the highest recording density at the time.

The next step was direct recording of digital video data to DV tape. The first consumer camcorder to use the DV format was the DCR-VX1000.

Miniaturization progressed rapidly, resulting in the first and highly acclaimed DV-format passport-size camcorder: the DCR-PC7.

The DV format was further refined in the HDV format that allowed Hi-Definition recording. Camcorder recording quality had leapt to a new level.

Capable of 1080i Full HD movie recording, the HDR-HC1 was the industry’s smallest digital Hi-Definition camcorder at the time, and became a massive hit.

Currently the AVCHD format provides ten times the resolution of 8-millimeter video. But that level of performance was not attained in one leap. It has taken time and the numerous small steps outlined above.

Handycam Is Easy To Use

Design, Beauty, Small, First, 25, image stabilization, sound

Deciding what to shoot and how to shoot it has always been up to the shooter, but in order to make it easier to achieve outstanding results it was necessary to make the camera capable of automatically optimizing shooting parameters to match the subject.

It was particularly important to ensure that faces were captured properly.

Emphasis was placed on face-detection performance with the goal of producing the world’s first face recognition system for video shooting.

Although the production schedule was extremely tight, the BIONZ image processing engine made it possible to effectively detect faces.

The problem was, what to do next?

Sony was ahead of the competition in providing variable skin color, focus, and brightness parameters.

We also assigned a higher video bit rate to the face area, effectively suppressing noise that can occur around the facial outline.

The overall result was face detection performance that was good enough to be incorporated in the HDR-SR12: the world’s first camcorder with face recognition.

And then, while shooting movies of his one children, one of Sony’s engineers had the idea that it would be great if he could capture photographs of their smiling faces at the same time.

Hardware design was initially considered, but the solution was more quickly achieved via software design.

The Smile Shutter feature was first released in digital cameras, and then in video cameras in the form of a Dual Rec feature that allows simultaneous recording of moving and still images. In this contest, the Smile Shutter feature made it easy to capture the most natural, charming smiles.

Current Handycam camcorder include an Intelligent Auto (iAuto) that is capable of discerning four elements – face, scene, shake, and indoors/outdoors – and automatically selecting the ideal shooting parameter settings from 90 possible combinations so that optimal quality can be easily achieved in just about any situation.a

Have you ever wondered how they rate gaming laptops and desktops? Well, aside from a bunch of hand-waving and pseudo-intellectual discussion, most hardware reviewers depend on a few important benchmarks, including 3DMark 11. 3DMark traditionally pounds graphics processors and CPUs with all kinds of great stuff – I remember running 3DMark in 2001 and seeing some amazing graphics including a fun space battle scene that pre-dated Halo 2 – and then it spits out a number.

FutureMark is releasing a new version of the software that will attack PCs with DirectX 11 graphics including new tessellation techniques to add amazing depth and detail to newer games.

The new software will appear at Computex and will be available for use in Q3 2010. A free version will also be available for stay-at-home amateur hardware pundits.

3DMark® 11 Announced, Trailer and Images Released

Deep Sea Tech Demo to be Shown at Computex, Taipei

2010 COMPUTEX TAIPEI
HELSINKI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Futuremark®, the developer of the world’s most popular benchmarking software, today announced 3DMark® 11, the latest version of their industry standard benchmark for real-time 3D graphics. Designed to measure the performance of DirectX 11 gaming PCs, 3DMark 11 uses a native DirectX 11 engine created in-house. To accompany the announcement Futuremark has released a trailer and screenshots taken from a 3DMark 11 tech demo called “Deep Sea”.

“So we are especially excited to announce 3DMark 11 and show the possibilities of DirectX 11 with the release of the Deep Sea trailer.”
Deep Sea is a demonstration of DirectX 11 technologies created using an early development build of the 3DMark 11 engine. The Deep Sea trailer features submersibles exploring the sea floor. Volumetric lighting illuminates the seabed with tessellation used to add rich detail to the rock, coral and manmade structures. Post processing delivers depth of field and other lens effects. The music is an original composition.

“For over 10 years 3DMark has shown gamers what to expect from the next generation of real-time 3D graphics,” said Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO, “So we are especially excited to announce 3DMark 11 and show the possibilities of DirectX 11 with the release of the Deep Sea trailer.”

The trailer, a selection of screenshots and further information about 3DMark 11 can be found on a newly launched website: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark11/teaser/

The 3DMark 11 Deep Sea tech demo will be shown publicly for the first time on the MSI booth at Computex in Taipei, from June 1 – 5.

3DMark 11 will be released in the third quarter of 2010. There will be a free edition available at launch. 3DMark 11 will join existing Futuremark benchmarks 3DMark Vantage for DirectX 10 and 3DMark06 for DirectX 9. Please visit the official website for more details.

The Mars Phoenix lander touched down near the Red Planet’s north pole in May of 2008. It was designed to investigate the history of water on Mars, digging into the surface soil and examining the chemistry there. It had a limited design lifetime of only a few months, since the onset of Martian winter in the north made weather conditions too severe to continue operations.

The hope was that NASA would be able to revive the lander once spring had sprung. Many such attempts have failed, and we may now know why: new images show the lander may be damaged.

The image on the left was taken in July 2008 with the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and shows the lander in blue. The image on the right was taken just a few days ago, on May 7, 2010. The illumination is similar in the two shots — note the landscapes are very similar looking — but the shadow cast by the lander looks different now. My first thought was that dust built up on the lander, making it look different, but scientists have shown this not to be the case.

More likely, carbon dioxide buildup on the solar panels bent or even broke one of the panels. There were predictions that this might happen, so while this isn’t a total surprise, it’s disappointing. This means that Phoenix will not be able to soak up enough solar energy to restart its operations, which in turn, sadly, means it really is dead.

The good news is it did a tremendous job in its mission, returning important data about the properties of the Martian surface. Although it appears the mission is now over, it was a raging success and I’m happy for the team.

It’s funny: Mars missions tend to fail catastrophically before they even get there, or they get to Mars and seem to last forever. Spirit and Opportunity have long outlasted their warranties, and we have several orbiters still going strong. And even though Phoenix made it down to the surface and exceeded its planned lifetime, it’s still a little weird to find out it’s dead. It shows me that we get used to ESA, NASA, and JPL’s superhuman efforts when it comes to their missions.

Space exploration is hard, damn hard. But we continue to do it, and we continue to get better at it. So while this specific news is disappointing, it’s also a reminder that we can’t take anything for granted. My hat’s off to the scientists and engineers who made Phoenix work, and work beyond expectations.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

When we’re not using the Large Hadron Collider to smash particle beams together or daydream about time travel, we might as well turn it into a musical instrument right? Great! Except that its tunes are purely hellspawn. More »

The BlackBerry Bold 9800 slider seems to be stealing all of the headlines away from Froyo, the new iPhone, and just about every other device today.  This time we’ve got a nearly four minute video of the phone showing several new features of BlackBerry OS 6 in action, including using mobile YouTube.  The OS does seem slightly buggy, but hopefully those issues will be ironed out by the 9800’s alleged release next month.  An important piece of the video comes right at the beginning when the user starts up the device and we are shown an AT&T splash screen, confirming that the Bold 9800 is fated to compete with the new iPhone on AT&T next month.  Has this video made you more excited for the Bold 9800 slider?

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On Friday, things were looking mixed until the final moments of the day, and then stocks surged. Today, it was the reverse. After only being down modestly, stocks really got hit hard in the final 15 minutes of trading

But first, the scoreboard:

Dow: -126 (-1.24%)
S&P 500: -14 (-1.29%)
NASDAQ: -15.49 (-0.7%)

And now to the day’s top stories:

• Today’s markets were characterized by calm selling, which is a departure from last week’s panic selling, but also indicative of a new mindset that when there’s no major news, the default is to sell. And then of course, the markets dove in the final minutes. See Deutsche Bank’s cause for bullishness here >

• Financial stocks were hit the hardest, as banking fears grow, and questions about financial reform linger. Losers included Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS) Click here to see the hedge fund managers getting hammered  >

• An issues that’s been of concern for some time — Spanish debt and the health of its banking system — is starting to come into the fore. This weekend Spain seized one bank, and today investors were unnerved by an organized merger of four weaker institutions. For more on the Spanish banking crisis see here >

• The oil leak in the Gulf continues to spew unabated. Towns in Louisiana are already seeing a major hit to real estate. See what Grand Isle Louisiana, arguably ground zero, looks like now >

• One notable winner today was gold which, after selling off last week, rebounded nicely today.

Join the conversation about this story »

Filed under: Performance, BMW, Specialty, Design/Style, Racing

Bimmerfest is billed as the celebration of being a BMW enthusiast – but to most it is simply the world’s largest BMW event held in North America. After starting as a small get-together at a BMW dealership in Santa Barbara just over a decade ago, the show has outgrown all of its venues… until now. The 2010 show, its 11th annual event, was held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena this weekend. Thanks to strong online forum support for Bimmerfest, this year’s show was packed with thousands of BMW models covering decades of production and dozens of vendors peddling accessories. If you have a Roundel on your hood, it’s worth the trip (some drove from as far as Alaska and Florida just to attend).

The best part of Bimmerfest – and the reason we enjoy the show so much – is that nearly every single BMW at the show is privately owned. Sure, BMW North America brought some cars to display (among them an X6 M and a 7 Series Alpina B7), but the diversity and customization of the owned cars meant no two were alike. We weaved our way through hundreds of freshly detailed 3 Series and 5 Series models to find dozens of real gems. Our favorites included the race-bred E30 M3 models, a sweet BMW Z8, and a rare BMW 850CSi six-speed manual. Check out our gallery to find some of your favorites.

Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Bimmerfest 2010: The Rose Bowl hosts North America’s largest BMW gathering originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Please join us in congratulating USA Hockey, Allstate, and Nationwide, for reaching the podium of the 2010 Brain Fitness Innovation Awards, unveiled today.

The podium’s top position went to USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP), a full-time development program aimed at preparing student-athletes for participation on the US National Under-18 and Under-17 Teams, for its innovative cognitive training system designed with the help of Applied Cognitive Engineering (ACE) and the BIRD Foundation to help hockey players develop perception and decision-making skills. More than two years in the making and $2 million to produce, the Hockey IntelliGym offers players a video-game-like training environment to enhance ‘hockey-sense’-the information gathered from surroundings to make and execute playing decisions on-ice. According to statistics, IntelliGym training helped NTDP teams win more games than non-trained teams.

Judges selected the entry for its inspiring team approach-an intersection between specialist, coach and player. To adapt such a program and demonstrate its impact on real-life performance, they felt, opened new opportunities for extension to other sports and everyday life.

“We’re extremely honored that the Hockey IntelliGym is being recognized with this prestigious award,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “Together with ACE and the BIRD Foundation, we’re proud to have developed what is a truly innovative training product that helps enhance the decision-making skills of our athletes.”

Entries from Allstate and Nationwide Mutual Insurance rounded out the competition’s other top-performers. Nationwide Mutual Insurance’s ‘Healthy Holiday Challenge’ offered a Web based tool-MyBrainSolutions-to help employees enhance positivity, emotional resilience and deal with others more effectively – all key elements to productivity. In Pennsylvania, Allstate invited selected drivers, 50 years and older, to help validate the impact targeted cognitive training such as Posit Science InSight can have on driving safety in an effort to prevent injuries, save lives, enable older people to maintain their independence longer and provide peace of mind to adult children faced with difficult decisions as parents age.

The remaining Top 10 Finalists included (in alphabetical order):

• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
• Arrowsmith School
• Mental Health Association of Rockland County
• Oakland Unified School District
• Saint Luke’s Brain and Stroke Institute
• SCAN Health Plan
• University Behavioral HealthCare

In its first year, the competition showed considerable promise with 40 entries from prestigious organizations and companies around the world. “We’re delighted to have so many entries which showcase that brain fitness is for everyone at any age,” said SharpBrains’ CEO and Co-Founder Alvaro Fernandez. “The brain fitness field is still in its infancy but given today’s longer life spans and the accompanying desire to make those years healthy and productive, we believe it’s important to recognize those organizations pioneering the way and adding to collective learning.”

-> To learn more about the Innovation Awards, click Here.
-> To download full Press Kit, click Here (includes logos, FAQ, initiative descriptions, PR contacts).

A full 200+ page market report detailing all ten finalist case studies in the context of overall research and market trends will be available next month.

Press contact:
Rebecca Brink
PR Rep – SharpBrains
rebecca at brinkconsulting dot biz

About SharpBrains and the Brain Fitness Innovation Awards

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm covering the emerging brain fitness and cognitive health market. Its flagship industry report The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market and consumer guide The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness help decision makers and consumers navigate the emerging brain fitness field based on evidence-based information and independent analysis. The organization also hosts the 3-day online global and virtual SharpBrains Summit, a first of its kind conference, engaging professionals across the globe on the state of cognitive fitness research, technology and market trends. SharpBrains.com, the firm’s educational blog and website, is a member of the Scientific American Partner Network.

Designed to foster innovation and best practice sharing, the Awards celebrate outstanding pioneers applying neuroplasticity-based research and tools in the ‘real world’. Put on by independent market research firm SharpBrains of San Francisco, the Awards recognize organizations devising and implementing results-oriented, scalable initiatives demonstrating commitment to the brain fitness of organization clients, members, patients, students or employees-and showcase innovative uses of non-invasive tools to improve cognitive and emotional functions.

According to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey, a CSR at Wells Fargo’s Home Mortgage Division refused to correct a payment error for Jamie Nelson unless she had some “phone fun” with him first. Phone fun, in this case, seemed to mean naked pics of the woman. She’s suing for emotional distress, since you can’t take someone to court simply for being a skeevy jackass. Wells Fargo says they’re taking the allegations seriously.

“Wells Fargo Mortgage Rep Demanded ‘Phone Fun,’ Nude Pics From Customer: Lawsuit” [Huffington Post] (Thanks to Adam!)

A tennis match or a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show? Either way, Venus is wearing drawers on the court again….

Tennis ace Venus Williams showed off more than her eye-popping backhand at the French Open on Sunday. Just a few months after making headlines with another bizarre design from her sportswear collection
— stunning everyone with her nude undies at this year’s Austraila Open — Williams turned heads again after wearing a lacy black Fredericks of Hollywood-esque corset with spaghetti straps, red trim, and nude underwear to grasp a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Patty Schnyder in the opening round.

Echoing (or is that just endlessly repeating) comments made by his minions last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today said that the company “missed the mark” with its complex privacy controls, and vowed to give users a “simpler way to control your information.”

In a Washington Post column, Zuckerberg repeated statements that the company would provide easier-to-manage privacy tools that would allow customers to decide which of their data is made public.

We have heard the feedback. There needs to be a simpler way to control your information. In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to turn off all third-party services. We are working hard to make these changes available as soon as possible. We hope you’ll be pleased with the result of our work and, as always, we’ll be eager to get your feedback. …

We have also heard that some people don’t understand how their personal information is used and worry that it is shared in ways they don’t want. I’d like to clear that up now. Many people choose to make some of their information visible to everyone so people they know can find them on Facebook. We already offer controls to limit the visibility of that information and we intend to make them even stronger.

Zuckerberg didn’t offer up any changes to which personal data the company would share by default.

Mark Zuckerberg – From Facebook, answering privacy concerns with new settings [Washington Post]