Published on January 30, 2008
in tech.
I’ve been a fan of dpreview ever since a friend introduced me to the site. Yesterday they launched a lens review section, well needed in my opinion, with 4 reviews at the time of writing. You can read about the technical end of the lens review process, as well as the development of the new section here. Here’s an excerpt:
At the heart of the reviews is a unique interactive ‘widget’ has been designed to present the test results in a way that allows visitors to experiment visually with variables such as focal length and aperture and see immediately the effect such changes have on overall image quality, and to compare the performance of different lenses. The user-friendly presentation ensures that even those with limited technical knowledge of optics or digital imaging will be able to use the reviews.

Published on January 29, 2008
in asides.
As an artificial limb designer and hobbyist robotics engineer, artist Christopher Conte rarely uses blueprints or sketches to craft his elaborate biomechanical sculptures.
read more | digg story
Published on January 28, 2008
in art.
Published on January 24, 2008
in wtf?.
So my current employer bought a HP Pavilion laptop for the shop floor today, mostly for CNC/DNC communications and part program management. This is a photo of step six in the quick start poster, after the mostly obvious: insert battery, plug in power supply, turn device on etc. The first two of the seven items in the photo sound like fun, as does the fourth. The third is arguable (I don’t enjoy setting up networks, but I know some who might), but the last two? “Creating recovery disks” and “Protecting the computer from viruses”. I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing, can you?

Who comes up with this stuff? The people who bring you reality TV? Here’s an idea, leave out step six - it is a “quick start” guide after all.
Published on January 24, 2008
in asides.
Paulo Coelho, the best-selling author of “The Alchemist”, is using BitTorrent and other filesharing networks as a way to promote his books. His publishers weren’t too keen on giving away free copies of his books, so he’s taken matters into his own hands.
read more | digg story
Published on January 23, 2008
in make.
This 16 year old kid made a fully functioning bicycle out of nothing but wood and glue, even the chain. Those dots in the assembly appear to be dowels, not screws. Pretty cool.

Via Lee Valley